spinning

I caved.

Today I balanced my checkbook and discovered that I will have enough money to get me to the begining of summer comfortably. I bought the textbooks I still need and had a little left over in the budget. So I caved and bought a spindle kit.

In the kit I get a basic top down spindle from The Bellweather, fleece to practice on, and a simple instruction manual to help me understand the basics and it was about $15 with shipping. I justify this purchase in two ways:

1. It's less than a good skein of sock yarn would cost, and probably many hours of entertainment.

2. If I get the job at Kline Creek I can bring my own spindle and fiber to work with.

3. I've been dreaming about spinning. Clearly this is the will of the gods.

Feeling all inspired and eager to get started, I walked down to the Appleton Public Library to check out what literature they had about spinning. The answer is almost nothing. They did however have "Women's Work: the first 20,000 years" which has so far been completely riveting. I know not everyone is into this kind of stuff but I think it's facinating. The author relies on linguistics and archaeology to piece together a chronological narrative of prehistoric textile working. She talks about the evidence for the different stages of textile production (rope making, spinning, weaving) and the tools that helped each come about. Because I don't know much about weaving, alot of her more technical points are lost on me, but I love how she explains the economic rationale behind the sexual division of labor and why textiles have long been considered women's work.

Tubey done!

Finally finished Tubey! I don't like it on me as much as I did in the picture and there are definately some parts of the pattern I would try to change if I ever did it again. It might be that I was so worried about running out of yarn that I didn't make the body as long as I should have, but I don't like how high the bottom hem comes in front compared to the back. If I were to make the pattern again, I'd make a small and add short row shaping for the bust. I though the ribbing would take care of clinging to all the curves, but the way the pattern is constructed it seems optimistic at best that the front would provide adequate coverage for all places I need coverage. I've seen some really cute, flattering versions, but mine simply doesn't measure up.

It's going to be a house sweater, because it is really soft, really warm, and I am proud of the work that went into it. But I don't think it's the kind of sweater I can wear to class or work or anything like that.

I finished the wyvren socks about a month ago and simply haven't had the time to blog about them yet. I love the yarn and the pattern and everything. In the future I'm going to use smaller needle sizes to make a slightly tighter more comfy sock.

Someday I swear I'm going to make a sweater that I can confidently and comfortably wear outside the house. Making Tubey has given me courage to work on a long term project, even though it taught me almost nothing about traditional sweater construction or finishing. Until then, I'm going to stick to socks and lace, both of which I love.

I have a pair of Jameson wool socks on the needles right now, but almost no plan about what to do with them, so most of my work has been on a pair of Lion Brand Magic Stripes socks with yarn that dear Emma gave me. I don't much like them, but it's been good practice at tightening my stitches and using little tiny needles. I'm working on the toe of the first sock, but haven't picked it up in a while in an effort to get done with the sweater.

I'm also planning on putting a lace scarf project on the needles soon, as well as an alpaca bolero/shrug. The scarf pattern is from the latest IK. The shrug, on the other hand, is an original design, and I'm debating the construction method I want to use. I could either do it like the shrug part of Tubey, or making it a seamed design. Much more work involved in that decision. The yarn was originally intended for Knitty's Honeymoon tank, but I decided that alpaca wasn't the best fiber for that kind of garment. Instead I hope to make Honeymoon with Knitpick's Shine or another cheap cotton, and use the alpaca on this shrug.

I also have about a skien of leftover Andean Silk in Hollyberry that might become another Odessa or something else. I'll be on the lookout.